Those behind Braehead pipe bomb condemned

Army Technical Officers pictured in Derry. DER1214SL200

Those responsible for leaving a viable pipe bomb on Derry’s Braehead Road yesterday have been condemned by a local Sinn Fein representative.

A significant area around the Braehead and Letterkenny Roads was sealed off for over six hours yesterday and was only reopened to the public after army technical officers carried out a controlled explosion on the device and made the area safe shortly after 9pm last night.

The alert led to major traffic backlogs along the busy border area yesterday.

Sinn Fein’s Liam Friel said: “While it is not yet known what group or individual may have been responsible for leaving this device, what is known is that if it had detonated it could have caused serious injury to anyone in the vicinity. I am making it clear to those responsible for leaving this viable pipe bomb that the community does not want this and those behind it need to stop,” Mr. Friel added.

Police confirmed that a number of items were taken away from the scene for further examination and that the object at the centre of Friday’s alert was a viable small pipe bomb type device.